Jack Strong Takes a Stand, by Tommy Greenwald

Jack Strong is a typical middle school kid who goes to a typical middle school. He does well in school, he doesn't make trouble, and he pretty much blends in the middle of the pack with regard to popularity. Jack even goes as far as saying that he *likes* school...especially Cathy Billows (who is pretty enough to make Jack's eyebrows hurt), his favorite teacher Mrs. Bender, and his relaxing bus ride home.

Jack's troubles start when he reaches home.

This is when his schedule kicks in.  Jack has after school and weekend activities.  Many after school and weekend activities.  Jack's dad thinks that these activities are going to look great on Jack's college applications.  So whether it's soccer, cello, tennis, test prep, Chinese, swimming, math tutor, karate, little league or youth orchestra Jack is expected to give it his all.

The thing is, Jack doesn't like all of these activities.  Some of them are great, but others just make him tired.  More and more often Jack finds himself missing out on all of the social activities that his peers are engaging in.  After winning his little league game, Cathy (of the eyebrows) invites Jack to go with her and some friends to grab some hotdogs, but Jack's dad has scheduled a tennis clinic and he isn't allowed to go.

Jack has had enough.  The next Monday, when he gets home from school he hits the couch.  Soon it's time for him to go to soccer, and he decides he's not going to go.  When his dad gets on the phone to tell him why he should get going, Jack has this to say - "Dad, do you really want to know what the other kids are doing?  I'll tell you.  They're at the party you didn't let me go to because I had to get better at cello.  And they're getting the free ice cream sundaes that I missed because I had to get better at Chinese.  And they're celebrating winning the World Series, but they're celebrating without me, because I had to get better at tennis." (p. 69)  So Jack decides to go on strike.  He is staying on the couch until his folks let him drop some of his after school activities.

What follows is an interesting and insightful look into the life of an over scheduled kid.  Sure Jack's dad wants what is best for him, but can he even hear Jack when he says he'd like to drop some activities? Tommy Greenwald has a knack for the kid voice.  Jack (just like Charlie Joe) is authentic and likable. His strike, which in other hands could have seemed like a bratty move, doesn't come across that way at all.  Jack's agency and his heart come across loud and clear, and readers won't be able to help but root for his success.

The Zebra Forest, by Adina Rishe Gewirtz

"So as that summer began, while America counted hostage days and Beth learned to swim, I thought up good lies to tell and climbed trees and lay a lot in the shade." (egalley pg 11-12)

11 year old Annie and little brother Rew live at the edge of the Zebra forest with their Gran.  They keep mostly to themselves, on account of the house and on account of Gran, but Annie and Rew have each other, a battered copy of Treasure Island, the joy of making up bad jokes, and the many trees of the Zebra forest to keep them company on the hot, steamy summer days. 

They are getting along in typical fashion when one summer night, a man rattles the back door and steps into the kitchen.  Before Annie can process what is even happening, the man takes the key they always keep in the knob, drops it in his pocket and tells Annie to stay quiet.  As Annie stands dumbfounded, Rew heads for the phone and then the door, but the man is quick and powerful.  He is also covered in mud, and his clothes are torn.  He has come through the forest.  On the other side of the Zebra forest is the prison.

Now they must wait.  Gran completely shuts down, and Annie and Rew must figure out how to be in the house with the doors shut and the windows closed, with the precarious piles and dirty dishes, with the man always there, always watching.  There will be no more going into the trees to read Treasure Island, no more trips out into the shade.

Adina Rishe Gewirtz has crafted a novel that gives an inside look into mental illness and family.  There is an incredible resilience to both Annie and Rew that shines through even though the two deal with their situation in vastly different ways.  The importance of story (both family and books) is felt throughout. Even though some major points like the Iran Hostage Crisis and the plot of Treasure Island may be unfamiliar to today's readers, Gewirtz does a fine job of weaving them into the greater plot -- using them to give a sense of ticking time as well as examination into real life characters.  This is a book that may not be for everyone, but will definitely find fierce love with the readers who love imperfect characters, finding connections, and those who don't mind feeling a bit off kilter.

Publishing April 9, 2013.

Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Ever since Lanesha’s mom died giving birth to her, she has lived with Mama Ya-Ya. Born inside a caul (a skin netting covering her face), with green eyes, Lanesha’s own uptown family is wary of her, and leaves her in the Ninth Ward in the care of Mama Ya-Ya. Mama Ya-Ya says, “Better you be an orphan, your family thinks. Better crazy Mama Ya-Ya raises you,” she says sucking air through her false teeth. “Fine. I’m old school. Don’t care nothin’ about folks who dishonor traditions as old as Africa. I’ll be your mother and grandmother both.” (pp. 2-3) Mama Ya-Ya has always made sure that Lanesha knows that she is loved.

Lanesha, like Mama Ya-Ya, has a gift of sight, and she’s been seeing ghosts since she was a baby. In fact, her own mother often sits with her big belly right on Mama Ya-Ya’s bed. But she never talks to Lanesha…not like Jermaine who ended up getting shot before middle school. Lanesha wonders why her mama doesn’t leave. What is she waiting for?

Mama Ya-Ya has also taught Lanesha to look for the signs that are all around her, and to use her senses to figure out what is coming. On Tuesday evening, Mama Ya-Ya says that she knows a storm is coming. Lanesha’s not too worried. They’ve had lots of storms before, and nobody is even talking about this one on TV.

By Wednesday, the news anchors are talking about the storm. Mama Ya-Ya tells Lanesha not to dawdle at school, and to get to the store to pick up the regular supplies: milk, bread, beans, water, and rice. At the breakfast table, Lanesha notices that Mama Ya-Ya doesn’t look herself. Her hair’s not combed, her teeth aren’t in, and she is obviously troubled. Turns out, she’s had a dream and she cannot figure out what it means.

By Saturday, the people of New Orleans are told to evacuate. But what are Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya to do? They have no car, no people to speak of, and at 82 years old, Mama Ya-Ya has seen her share of storms.

Reading Ninth Ward knowing about Katrina and everything that happened in the Ninth Ward filled me with dread. I knew what was coming and I wondered how Jewell Parker Rhodes was going to write it. It’s not candy coated, and it’s not pretty, but the one thing that does survive the storm is hope. Lanesha finds her incredible strength as a friend, a daughter and a girl. Jewell Parker Rhodes’ writing is poetic, and readers get a real sense of the community that Lanesha is a part of. Yes she lives in poverty, but she has the bright spots of Mama Ya-Ya, her teacher Miss Johnson, and her neighbor TaShon.

Lanesha is a character who readers will not forget.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

The second that I saw this cover at ALA in Denver, I knew I wanted to read this book. The title, the illustrations, everything called out to me. Unfortunately, there were no arcs left while I was on the floor, but I kept thinking about it. Now, loving a cover and title has backfired on me before, but I was hoping that this time would be different. A few reviews popped up in the blogs and I knew for sure that I wanted to read it, so I ordered my copy and waited for it to arrive!

It’s 1899 and Calpurnia is wilting away in rural Texas. She is eleven years old and the only girl in a family with 7 children. When her oldest, and favorite brother Harry hears about Callie’s inventive way to find earthworms in the packed Texas earth, he gives her a red leather notebook to record her findings and Callie’s summer as a naturalist truly begins.

One of the first things that she notices is that there is a new kind of grasshopper around. There were the quick emerald green ones that Callie has seen every summer, but there are also big, bright yellow ones. Callie asks everyone in her house (except for her formidable grandfather who lives with them, but tends to keep to himself studying in his laboratory) about the yellow hoppers, but nobody else has any knowledge of them at all. So Callie screws up her courage and goes to grandfather’s laboratory in order to ask him if in all his years he has seen the yellow grasshoppers before. His answer? “I suspect that a smart young whip like you can figure it out. Come back and tell me when you have.” (p.11) Callie figures that if her grandfather cannot help her, maybe Mr. Charles Darwin can, so she begs a ride into town from her brother for a trip to the library.

The librarian, however, is quite offended over Callie’s request. Without any help from grandfather or Mr. Darwin, Callie has only her own wits to help her out. After spending more time thinking about it, Callie does figure it out. Once she gets the nerve up to speak with her grandfather again, she tells him about her discovery. Her grandfather is quite impressed that Callie has figured this out on her own, and has her follow him into his library, where the children are never allowed. He hands Calpurnia his copy of The Origin of Species and at that moment, Calpurnia and her grandfather are bonded together as scientists.

Grandfather starts taking Calpurnia on his daily outings to gather specimens, brings her in on his experiments trying to distill drinkable spirits from pecans, and he begins to tell her about the World. Over time, Callie really feels like she is a scientist. She can’t help but be disinterested in the handicrafts and cooking in which her best friend Lula seems to excel. But while her grandfather believes that Calpurnia can be a scientist, her mother has other ideas, and is soon imposing cooking and knitting lessons, and letting Calpurnia know that she will be expected to “come out” as the only girl in the Tate family. Callie feels so confused; will she have to put aside all of her aspirations in order to be a wife someday? Will she have to be like her mother, with a passel of children, taking doses of Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound just to get by?

Jacqueline Kelly has written a piece of historical fiction with depth, detail and characters that leap off the page. From the first telephone coming to town, to Callie’s grandfather’s first time sitting in an automobile, to the kerosene powered “wind machine”, readers will find themselves immersed in the sweeping changes that were happening at the dawn of the 20th century. Social commentary on class and slavery are worked in naturally, and the bold idea of evolution is front and center in the story. The heartbreaking aspect of Callie’s position of being a girl is perfectly placed and I hope that young readers will ponder their own privilege and position, or even the lack thereof upon reading this book. I slowed down at the end, simply because I wasn’t ready to let go of Calpurnia.

Simply wonderful.